Hello Birmingham

We have now been in the UK for just over a week and are finally trying to get settled in. After traveling for about 17 hours, we finally landed in Birmingham at 7:00am. From there we had a young family from our church pick us up at the airport. They took us to their flat and then we started to look for places to live. We decided to live off campus since we were married and didn’t want to live in dorm style housing with shared kitchens. The housing market here is crazy, especially this time of year when so many students are looking for places to live. We would literally be viewing flats with other applicants interested in renting the place. We also had to be decisive if we found a place we liked because others were sure to write up an offer.

After two days of looking, we found a nice apartment for a great price located across the canal from the Mailbox. Though we were able to sign the contract, we weren’t able to move in for a week because the funds and all the paperwork had to be processed. In the meantime, we stayed at a budget hotel called Nitenite. It was small, but did the job as we tried to settle into our new lives in Birmingham.

A street in the city centreThe canal outside our apartment

There are a lot of logistics that you need to think about when moving to the UK. Some things you need to keep in mind when moving include:

Opening a new bank account and becoming accustomed to new banking policies

The different policies for paying bills such as water and electric

Registering with the healthcare system

Learning new phrases and words that are popular in the UK

Though there are things I have needed to learn as I have made the transition to life in Birmingham, it has been well worth the adjustment thus far. I have already met people from all across the world and am sure I will meet many more. My term 1 group has already been set and I have two teammates from Germany, one from France, and one from Nigeria. We are already working on a business plan for an assignment we will be presenting this week. I am looking forward to continue working with them and getting my modules started next week!